It's Always The Quiet Ones… You'll See At The Top

Growing up we meet many different types of individuals, from many different facets of life – especially those lucky enough to have grown up in areas consisting of a diverse population.

Before we even get a chance to know a person, what’s the first thing we notice? Obviously, the way the individual looks. People judge a book by its cover before they are close enough to see the cover in sufficient detail.

The way a person appears to us can, as evolution has taught us, be very useful. However, appearances aren’t the only thing that we first notice – we also notice behavior.

Behavior, more often than not, will tell us more about a person than will their physical appearance. Looks can be deceiving, but actions never lie.

The behaviors we are most privy to are those in social settings. Although, we may have difficulty understanding a person’s behavior in specific detail, we are easily capable of getting a sense of a person’s overall personality.

From the first meeting, we will decide whether a person is outgoing and the life of the party or quiet, shy and, possibly, socially awkward. When I was younger, I used to think that the louder ones were the ones to worry about, but life has taught me that, in reality, the exact opposite is true.

Whether introverted, or simply shy, the individual who spent more of his or her time growing up in his or her own head is an individual that has had a whole lot more time to introspect and ponder.

Those who spend more time in their lives questioning their own existence, questioning their purpose, questioning their wants, needs, hopes, dreams and life, are those whom you have to watch out for.

Generally speaking, the more time you introspect, the better you know yourself. The better you know yourself, the better you know what to avoid and what to exploit – you learn your strengths and weaknesses.

Those who understand themselves best are those who tend to do best in life. A lot of it has to do with the clarity with which such individuals live their lives.

Because they spent so much time questioning such things when they were younger, when their thoughts were less corrupt and more vivid, they spend less time having to question such things when they are older.

The fact is that it’s more difficult to begin to understand yourself when you are older – there’s simply a lot more going on. You have more responsibilities and less curiosity.

Having more time to understand your purpose earlier on in life isn’t the only thing that makes the quiet ones so dangerous later in life.

If you think about it, those who grew up quiet or shy have more to prove than most individuals – maybe not to the rest of the world, but to themselves. No matter how well a person gets to know or understand him or herself, that sort of knowledge is not enough.

Human beings need to experience the world – other facets of life – as well. Because they feel that they understand how they work so well they want to get their hands on the rest of reality in order to see if the truths they believe they learned continue to hold true.

The quiet ones are as dangerous as they are because they have a set of beliefs that they are unlikely to waver from – beliefs that resulted in years of getting to know oneself.

Having such beliefs, such a clear depiction of one’s reality, make one disciplined and – more importantly – hungry. You can’t spend so many years talking to yourself without wanting a piece of the rest of what life has to offer.

In the end no one wants to live a life where the only relationship one has is with oneself – we all want to feel connected to something that is bigger than ourselves. Most people don’t have the mind to achieve great things – the ones that were quieter growing up, however, usually do.

We all want a bit of glory in our lives – we want to feel that we’re leaving some legacy behind once we kick that bucket. The thought that scares us the most is the thought that we will one day be forgotten.

We want to live a story that people will share for generations to come. What better story to be part of than a David and Goliath?

Everybody, and I really mean everybody, loves the underdog. We love the idea that someone who looks like they have no chance in succeeding, no chance of winning, can still come out on top – be victorious.

We love this idea because it makes us feel invincible. It makes us believe that anything is possible – that we too could bask in such glory.

We love the idea of the underdog because it happens time and time again. Sure, it may be statistically improbable, but there are those who believe themselves strong enough to take on such a challenge.

There are those who are confident enough in themselves, because they understand themselves, to take on Goliath.

Chances are that such people had quite a bit of quiet alone time growing up.